Timing belt for a 97 Honda Civic

Chefwork

The timing belt broke while driving on my Honda Civic , Is there any simple way of telling if the engine is damaged beyond repair, and approximately how much would it cost to fit a
New timing belt
Thanks in advance

biko

Don't try to start the car yet.

First find out if your engine is an interference engine.
If not then you're ok as the valves never touched the piston.

If it is an interference engine then the valves would have come into contact with piston and must be replaced (and a new belt fitted).


When the belt broke, did the engine keep running or did it stop suddenly?

Chefwork

Thanks for reply, The engine lost power , and I pulled in to side of road.
It wouldn’t star again.
How do I find out if it is an interference engine.
Thanks

biko

This is a guess of course but if engine won't crank then it has probably seized. You need a mechanic to have a look.

greasepalm

Is 1997 Honda Civic an interference engine?
Something like 95% of Honda engines are interference. This is why it's always stressed to replace the timing belt if it's time or if you don't know if it's been replaced. No, those are all interference.

Usually what happens is that the cams stop rotating since their power source (the timing belt and crankshaft) is no longer able to spin them. So, the valves are in roughly whatever position they were in when the belt broke. Generally, one or more valves are open.

That can be very nasty depending on what damage might be done.

wotzgoingon

You would have heard them hitting anyway if you were listening. I still have a feeling the engine is toast as it is most likely a interference engine and even a slight wack of a piston off valve will cause them to warp and even when a new belt is put on an timed correctly the valve will not seal correctly so the engine would be down a cylinder/power.

wotzgoingon

Is it a 1.6 VTEC engine? If not and a standard 1.4i then call your loses and pick up a new car as it wasn't worth much even before the belt snapped.

selectamatic

All the d series engines are interference so there's most likely valve damage. Who knows though you might get lucky on very rare occasions there's no damage done.

But since it happened while driving and not just simply at idle it's probably not good news. If you could find a good replacememt d14 it shouldn't be too expensive to get it put in.

greasepalm

Ivi engine transplants

http://www.iviengines.ie/

Chefwork

Ok, sounds like It is end of the road for the HCivic. I am getting someone to check it today hopefully.

Chefwork

greasepalm wrote: »

Ivi engine transplants

http://www.iviengines.ie/

Thanks, I rang iviengines , they don’t have engines for a car of this age.

Cee-Jay-Cee

If its the 1.4 engine then you should be able to pick up an engine for it handy enough, god knows enough of them were on the roads and many had the engines changed to B-series so there should be no bother getting a D-series. Join any of the many Honda parts facebook pages and put up an ad, you'll get plenty of responses. Don't pay anymore than €250-300 for an engine though as theyre not worth much.

selectamatic

As above facebook is your friend for this. And get a trusted independent mechanic to put it in.

This is a simple job compared to how it'd be for a modern car so it shouldn't be viewed as a daunting task.

Who knows you might just need a replacement head which would be cheaper again if the tops of the pistons aren't showing obvious damage.

It's worth fixing if you have the appetite for it as a rust free ek civic will eventually be worth a few pound.

However if the car is rough cosmetically and rusty or you were planning on changing cars anyways now would be a good time to make the jump.